


running in the shadows

by Lapin



Series: chain (keep us together) [2]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: By someone else, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Yondu's not nice but he's not evil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 20:17:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12417387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lapin/pseuds/Lapin
Summary: Yondu don't even look up from the display showing him the new list of bounties, or put his pipe down. “Boy, what did I tell you about crawling around in those damn vents?”Goes real quiet overhead.





	running in the shadows

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: THERE IS IMPLIED SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN HAVING BEEN COMMITTED BY THE BOUNTY THEY GO TO COLLECT

Yondu don't even look up from the display showing him the new list of bounties, or put his pipe down. “Boy, what did I tell you about crawling around in those damn vents?” 

Goes real quiet overhead. 

Yondu waits, but it stays too damn quiet, so he settles back in his chair. “Guess it ain't no skinny Terran being where he was told not to be. Guess it's some other vermin.” He whistles, and then there's a whole lot of clanking while Quill scrambles down to the vent cover.

“Don't!” The kid drops down from the ceiling, mostly landing on his feet. 

Yondu keeps the arrow on him, just to keep the kid on his toes, then summons it back. The kid sulks at him, little shit, but he scrambles up on the arm of Yondu's chair without putting his sharp bits in any of Yondu's soft ones, so he ain't bellyaching too much over it. Yondu switches his pipe to the other hand so the vapor don't get in the kid's face, and makes the display bigger so the boy can get a better look at the letters.

“Read that to me, boy,” he orders him, settling back.

Kid squints, and mouths the words for a minute before he says out loud, “Borsu Lo Lo. Also known as Lo Lo Bo. Also known as Lobo. Race is...is...” Kid's not struggling, he just don't know the letters he's looking at. Yondu's learned the difference by now, so he leans back forward, and points out each letter, sounding them out for the kid. 

“Voldi,” he tells the kid. “Bunch of fancy looking assholes. Whole planet ain't good for nothing but a party or a fight.” He claps the kid on the shoulder. “We ain't allowed on that planet, by the way. Their drones got orders to shoot Ravager ships on sight.” 

“How come?” 

Yondu shrugs. “Back when I was with my first ship, when I was with my old crew?” He's told the kid about them. Quill likes those stories. Probably 'cause Yondu can tell them, and still come out looking halfway decent. “You remember I told you about Stakar's wife? Aleta? And Charlie?” Quill nods. “Well, while the rest of us were having a good time partying, Aleta got all bent out of shape because one of those assholes called her something he shouldn't have.”

“What'd he call her?” 

“Something he shouldn't have.” Kid ain't old enough to know what a comfort slave is, and Yondu ain't in the mood to explain it anyway. “Don't matter, it ain't the point. Point is, Aleta and Charlie-27, they kind of blew up the Queen's penthouse. So we Ravagers got ourselves a lifetime ban. How I got this.” Kid's always staring at the scar on Yondu's collarbone when he sees it. “That one near killed me.”

Quill's got his big eyes on it now. “Was it a gun?” 

“Rifle. Fancy piece of shit.” He figures he can leave out the part where he used it to beat in the guard's skull. “Didn't do 'em much good in the end. Don't matter what kind of gun you got, boy, don't matter what kind of tech you got, don't matter how big you are. Know what matters, Quill?” He grabs the boy by the scruff, makes sure he's looking Yondu in the eye. “What matters, Quill?”

“You kill them before they kill you,” the boy says, word-for-word what's Yondu's tried to drill in his fool head.

“That's right, boy,” he tells him, loosening his grip and settling his hand there instead. “That's right. You kill them, before they kill you. That's all that matters. Don't matter how it gets done, long as you get it the hell done, and get your skinny ass back to this ship.” He shoves at the kid's head, Quill too close to some of Yondu's best bits with his pointy fucking knees. “I ain't got the time to go looking for some skinny Terran that can't even fucking read.” 

Kid sneers at him, mutters something that's probably disrespectful, but gets his eyes back on the screen. “Species: Voldi.” Quill pauses, then adds, “Also known as Fancy Looking Assholes.” He's being mouthy, but it's funny, so Yondu lets it slide. “Wanted For:....”

And Quill goes too quiet.

“Wanted for what?” Yondu ain't going to let him get away from it. Boy needs to know how the galaxy works. He don't know what this bastard is wanted for, and he don't much care, long as the bounty is worth it, but Quill still don't got that skill down. He still gets all soft and sad about things.

Quill tries to make himself bigger, but he's squirming down against Yondu. He's spooked. “Wanted for kidnapping.” Boy squirms more, until Yondu opens his eyes, and sees why the kid is shaking.

Borsu Lo Lo is wanted for taking kids that didn't have no one, and selling them to Kree slavers. 

“Boy, he ain't even a Kree himself, and you're _trembling_ ,” he mocks Quill, grabbing him by the scruff again and giving him a shake. Not too hard. Just so the kid knows who he should be scared of. “What you gonna do when you see one of those ugly bastards in person? When one's got you? You gonna sit there and shake?” 

Quill don't try and move away, and he don't say nothing neither, just keeps himself where he is, right by Yondu. 

Yondu lets the kid go, puts his hand on the kid's head instead. His hair's mostly grown back now from the doc shaved it for his implant, hiding his ears some. For the best, 'cause if Yondu had to listen to one more grown-ass Ravager bellyache to him that Quill had bit 'em again 'cause they pulled on the boy's ears, Yondu was liable to airlock someone. See if they kept whining after that. 

“Boy, I've put too much work into making you something close to useful to have to get a new skinny brat.” He should smack the kid over the head, knock some sense into him, but the boy's calmed down some. He hedges with, “Quit crying. Ravagers don't cry.”

“Horuz cried when Bao-bao hit him with her cannon.” 

Boy has a point, but that damn repeating cannon of hers weighs four times the kid, and she'd gotten Horuz in his good bits with it. “Boy, you were laughing with everyone else. You want everyone laughing at you?” 

Kid had been sitting on the arm of Yondu's flight chair when Bao-bao had finally had enough of Horuz running his mouth about the Tsyrani. If Horuz was dumb enough to say that all that Tsyrani were good for was being whores and target practice in front of a Tsyrani holding a weapon, Yondu had figured the beatdown he got was earned, so he'd let it happen. It was damn funny too, Bao-bao just hitting Horuz and then walking back to her post like nothing. Horuz had cried like he was dying. 

“No.” Quill sniffs and sits himself up. “Why was he doing it?”

“Horuz ain't ever been bright, boy.” 

Boy points at the screen. “No, him. Why was he selling kids?” 

Ain't like there's a good answer, and it ain't like Yondu would know it even if there was one. So he just tells the kid how it is. “He liked the money.”

Quill don't say nothing, so Yondu gives him a minute. Boy takes just that minute, doesn't push it. “Says he's worth a lot. Three-hundred thousand.” Quill mouths out the words on the screen before he says them out loud. “Wanted alive for questioning. Bounty, three-hundred thousand. Twenty-thousand addition for every child brought back with him.” 

That's a lot of money. “What kind of ship he got?” 

“Says his main ship got shot down by the Nova Corps. Last seen...” Kid stumbles over the next word, finally spits out, “ _Fleeing_ in an M-class drop ship. Got his ID number listed. Are you going to send someone after him?” Yondu nods, grunts. It's a helluva lot of money, and it'll be a nice chunk of change in the shares for the month. “You should send Tullk's crew.”

He'd been planning on sending Bao-bao's. “Why's that, then?” 

“Says there's extra money for kids. And they want him alive. Tullk's good at bringing them in alive.” Boy's not wrong. Tullk keeps his head on straight even when it all goes to shit. Bao-bao's blown a ship out of the sky more than once after she's gotten good and pissed off. Ain't a problem when it's a headhunt, but this is a capture. 

He ruffles the kid's hair. “That's good thinking, boy. Starting to grow some brains. Maybe I won't gut you for stew next time supplies are low.” Kid cuts his eyes at him, so Yondu shows his teeth. “Don't be giving me no cheek, boy.” 

“I didn't even say anything!”

“You were thinking it.” Boy don't argue, so Yondu grabs his ear, pinches, 'til the kid punches at him. It don't do much, the kid still too small and too skinny, but it's good. Yondu don't have time for someone who won't fight back. “You moved up to using your fists now, boy? Finally stopped biting people?” 

Kraglin's got himself a nice little scar now from the first time Quill got his teeth in, and he ain't stopped bitching since. The rest of them whine just as bad. Didn't help nothing when Tullk and Horuz got it in their heads to tell everyone that Terrans had venom after all. 

Quill punches him again and wriggles out of Yondu's grip, sitting up straight on the arm of the chair. He don't say nothing while Yondu sorts the bounty over to Tullk's crew, but Quill ain't ever been able to shut the hell up for too long. “When are you going to let _me_ go out on jobs?” 

“When you ain't useless. 'Sides, I take you on jobs.” 

“No, you don't,” kid whines. “You only let me come when you're just talking to people, and you don't ever let me do anything.” He's kicking his foot against the chair. He's starting to leave a scuff mark, little shit. “I can do stuff now! I can get in vents, and I don't get lost in them anymore! I can help break into places!”

Ain't the first time kid's brought this up. “Boy, I done told you already, ain't no one got time to babysit your skinny ass when they got work to do.” 

“I'm not a baby,” Quill mutters, and kicks the chair harder. 

“You're whatever the hell I say you are, Quill,” he warns him. “Now read that next one to me.” 

Kid keeps swinging his leg against the chair, but he does what's told. By the end of the list, he ain't even struggling too bad with the harder words, and Yondu can sit back with his eyes shut, tell the kid where to sort the work himself. Takes longer, but Yondu needs the kid useful. Crew that can't read ain't useful. 

He ain't all that sure some of the crew _can_ read, now that he thinks on it. 

Boy helps him clean his guns when they're finished up, naming parts when Yondu tells him to. He don't need much help now. Kid ain't so quick with his letters, but he's good with his hands. He ain't big enough to fire most of them just yet, not without getting blown off his feet, but it's getting to be time he learns at least one of them. Might get him to shut the hell up about going out on jobs for a spell, even.

“Tell you what, boy,” he drawls. “How 'bout I teach you how to shoot one of these next time we're in port?”

Gets the kid to stop with his sulking, finally. Yondu don't like it when the kid's quiet. Usually means he's up to something. He does what he's told tonight though, and he goes to bed without his usual carrying on. 

Jobs get divvied up on day rotation, Yondu barking out orders while the kid sits by him, legs kicking over the catwalk. Nearly gets pulled through when Tullk decides to fuck with him, grabbing the kid's feet and yanking. Would have, if Yondu hadn't grabbed his collar and yanked harder, getting the kid on his feet. Kid's half behind Yondu by the time Tullk's climbed up to hang off the other side, laughing. 

“What's wrong, brat? Scared of a little fall?” 

“Fuck you!” Kid stutters, but he gets it out. 

Tullk hangs on with one hand. “Ain't that far a drop, Quill,” he teases. “What do you say, Captain, how 'bout we let the kid take a little tumble, aye? Toughen him up a little?” He grabs Quill by the front of his shirt, gets him up against the railing. 

Yondu don't do nothing. Tullk ain't ever hurt no one that didn't deserve it, and he ain't the type to pitch kids down far enough to crack their skulls. He's just messing with Quill, trying to scare him, but the rest of the crew will do worse if they get a chance. 

“Stop it!” Kid ain't nearly strong enough to get away from Tullk just struggling, and Tullk ain't dumb enough to let the kid get close enough to bite. Crew down below is cheering, and shit, might be turning into something Tullk didn't intend and Yondu can't control. 

Kid grunts, and kicks Tullk in the knee that's still organic, gets him hard enough Tullk loses his footing and falls. Crew laughs harder when Tullk hits the floor, kid looking over the side, shaking. 

Yondu puts a hand on his back, leans over the side. Tullk's groaning and cursing, getting hauled to his feet, but he's getting up just fine. Good. Means Yondu ain't going to have to get after the kid for injuring useful bodies.

Kraglin's shoving Tullk into Bao-bao, so Bao-bao shoves him into Kol, the whole crew laughing at him. Tullk's got an easy way of being, but he's too old to put up with too much shit, and he gets Kraglin in a headlock once he's got his feet. “Oy, the little shit's learning! Too bad, was looking forward to having my own pretty little scar!” That gets the crew roaring, and Kraglin cussing. 

“He's okay?” Quill asks. 

“Fuck, I shoved him off a damn roof way back when, boy,” Yondu scoffs, keeping his eye on the kid when he scrambles up to stand on the first rung of the railing so he can see better. “Half his bones are upgrades.” He leans over the railing himself, ruffles the kid's hair. “What's wrong, Tullk? Half-grown Terran too much for you now?” 

Tullk swings Kraglin around and lets him go, Kraglin falling on his ass. “I'll be remembering that, you little brat!” He don't mean it none. Fall shook him, but he's laughing. 

“You started it!” Quill shouts back, getting a little backbone in him now that Tullk's not in his face.

He's still got his hand on the kid's head, but it ain't hurting nothing. Kid just proved himself plenty tough enough to the crew for now, and they won't see nothing wrong with him getting a little approval. 'Sides, Yondu ain't all that comfortable with Quill leaning over the railing like that. Dumb kid is clumsy as shit.

Takes two or three days for Tullk to get back, but he ain't laughing none by then. He's got Borsu Lo Lo's ship in tow behind his, and Borsu Lo Lo himself, not looking quite so pretty no more, is getting dragged on the floor by chains. Tullk don't say nothing when he comes up to Yondu, just barks, “Find a cell, put him in it!”

“How much of him?” Razorbite asks, yanking on the chains. 

“However much he needs to stay alive,” Tullk says. 

Tells Yondu something he don't want to know, the way the crew jeers at Borsu while they drag him off. 

“Kids alive?” 

Tullk huffs. “Yeah. Got all the ones listed. They're staying on the ship 'til we get them to the port. Might need you to come aboard, tell 'em that.”

The crew's getting real worked up around them, and Yondu decides he don't want Quill hearing what's about to happen. Since he ain't got time to take Quill back to his quarters, he reaches for the kid, only Quill's already got his hand on Yondu's jacket, looking around like he knows something bad is about to happen. 

“Come on, boy,” Yondu orders him, following Tullk. He hitches his chin at Kraglin and Bao-bao, so they know to make sure Borsu stays alive. 

Borsu's out of sight, but he screams damn loud, and Quill freezes. 

“Boy, I said move!” Yondu barks, trying to hurry him along, and the kid gets it through his skull for once, even if Yondu is half-carrying him. Quill's almost inside his jacket by the time they board, 'cause Borsu's still screaming and the crew is getting louder. 

Airlock shuts, and it all goes quiet. 

There's a kid only a bit bigger than Quill waiting for them, and they've got one of Tullk's sidearms pointed at them. Yondu might be a bit more intimidated if the kid wasn't shaking so bad they'd be lucky to even hit the wall, much less one of them. He still makes sure Quill is good and behind him. Brat bleeds like a busted slug when he so much as gets nicked, won't be nothing but a headache if he gets shot. 

“Easy now,” Tullk is saying, coming between them. “There now, Aldo, didn't I tell you? This is my captain, Yondu Udonta. He's going to tell you the same thing I did, ain't you, Captain?”

“Who're you?” the kid demands instead, looking at Quill. 

Quill looks up at Yondu, and Yondu ain't too keen on letting Quill anywhere he might get hit, but he trusts Tullk. So he tilts his head, and Quill creeps forward, still keeping close to Yondu. Good to know the kid really is finally growing some brains. “I'm Peter Quill. I'm a Ravager.” 

Yondu ain't going to yell at him in front of this kid, but damn if Quill ain't on kitchen duty for the next fucking month for saying he's a _Ravager_. Boy ain't even big enough to fire a rifle proper. 

“He's the Captain's boy,” Tullk says. “His mum's dead, so he lives on the ship.”

The kid, Aldo, don't lower the gun. He asks Quill, “What do they do to you?”

Yondu don't like that question. Makes him think of the cage. Makes him think of screaming and crying, and worse, the ones who didn't do neither, just kept their mouths shut. 

Quill don't know nothing about those kinds of memories though, so he just says, “They all yell at me a lot.” He looks back at Yondu. “He makes me read and stuff. And clean the kitchens.”

Says a whole lot about just what kind of piece of shit Borsu Lo Lo is, that Aldo lowers the gun finally. Yondu shoves Quill forward. He or Tullk come any closer, Yondu don't doubt that gun will come back up. 

Kid goes closer, his hands up. “Um...so we're taking you all back home.” He looks over his shoulder at Yondu, then back at the kid. “They put up a reward for you. Only you gotta come in alive, or our crew won't get paid.” Aldo's starting to look a bit less on edge, and Quill's putting his hands down. “These guys really like getting paid.”

“We're going home?” Don't look quite like he believes them. “That asshole told us the Kree were going to pay five thousand for us.”

Yondu puts his hands on his hips, coming up behind Quill. “Your government's offering us _twenty_ thousand for each of you. Twenty thousand is an awful big number. How many of you are there?” He can hear them moving around in the halls, listening in. “I reckon there's about seven of you?” 

Kid don't answer, but it's the way he don't answer that tells Yondu he's right. 

“Quill,” he barks, knocking the boy's shoulder. “What's that mean they're worth?” 

He takes a minute, mouthing the numbers, before he says, “A hundred and forty thousand units?” 

“That's right, a hundred and forty thousand credits, for all seven of you to get brought home, all in one piece.” He shrugs. “They weren't too specific on how many pieces Lo Lo needed to be in, were they, Mr. Tullk?” 

“They really weren't, Captain,” Tullk confirms, thumbs hooked through his belt loops. “Shame. The crew don't do too well with non-specifics.”

“No, they don't.”

The exchange does the trick. Kid gets a vicious kind of twist to his mouth, and the kids that were hiding peek out. Damn, if some of them ain't smaller than Quill. “Boy,” he says, hand on Quill's shoulder, maybe squeezing a bit too hard, but he wants to be sure the boy is listening good. “You want to work a job, now's your chance. It's gonna be your job to make sure they got what they need 'til we dock. You understand me?” Quill looks up at him, all excited, and somehow Yondu don't roll his eyes. “That means _now_ , boy. You know damn well I don't put up with no lollygagging!”

“I'm on it!” Boy looks at the other kid, says, “Where's the galley?”

“That way, but he keeps it locked -” 

“That's okay!” Quill shouts, already taking off. “I'm really good at breaking locks!”

The other kids follow like birds after a mama. Leaves just Yondu and Tullk. He don't look at Tullk. “He been doing to those kids what I think he's been doing?”

“You don't want to know what one of the wee ones asked me when we came aboard. Crew decided he needed a good boot to the chest. I didn't disagree.” Tullk spits on the floor, then sticks another piece of chew in his mouth. “We should go back.” 

Yondu don't mean to hesitate, but he does, 'cause he can't see or hear Quill no more, the boy off into the bowels of the ship. He's probably finding plenty enough locks to break, but still, Yondu don't like having him out of sight too long.

Tullk claps him on the shoulder, steers him to the airlock. “Lad's fine. Probably better than fine, having other kids to show off for.” 

He ain't wrong, and 'sides that, Quill is a scrappy little shit. Even if these little brats turn on him, he'll be fine. He took down Gall on his own just last week, when the dumb fuck thought it'd be funny to take Quill's music away from him. 

Back on their ship, he makes right for where they've got Lo Lo. The crew's strung him up upside down over one of the catwalks by his chains, and they're taking turns having a go at him. Kraglin and Bao-bao are up on the walk, watching, ready to pull him up if the crew goes too far.

Crew sees Yondu, and they make a hole, let him through. 

“Drop him,” Yondu orders, and Bao-bao undoes the chains so the piece of shit hits the floor. He lies there a spell, groaning and carrying on, and Yondu crouches down beside him, getting a good look at him. He ain't much, but Yondu bets his face is gonna live on for a good long while in those kids' heads. Nothing to be done for it, except make sure they never had to see it in person again. 

Lo Lo tries to squirm away when he gets his eyes open and sees Yondu, but there ain't nowhere for him to go.

“You gonna live,” Yondu assures him. “My crew needs to get paid, and you're supposed to be brought in alive. Seems folks want to know what you did with the other kids.” He sniffs, wondering if maybe his crew can get it out of him themselves, save everyone some trouble. They'd probably get stiffed though. That won't do. Fuel cells and food cost money. “Now see, 'cause I'm merciful, I'm gonna let you sit in a cage 'til we get there. Long as you stay in that cage, on my word as a Captain,” he puts a hand over his heart, sees the crew smirk, “ain't no more harm gonna come to you.” 

He opens his coat.

“You get some ideas about escaping that cage though,” he whistles, and the arrow flies. Crew starts laughing. “Well, I reckon you kept logs, didn't you? The Nova Corps can probably make something out of them.” 

“And I could make something out of you,” Echo promises, coming up and grabbing Lo Lo by the feathers on his neck. “Do you know, I think you would make a rather spectacular piece for our bow. I have been told your feathers can endure breaking atmo. They lose their color over time, of course, but that might just highlight your bone structure.” She smirks, and asks, “I wonder what it is like, to burn up like that, a ship at your back, the stars ahead of you...”

She's never been all that subtle, and Lo Lo is a piece of shit, but he ain't stupid. 

“Someone remember to feed him,” Yondu tells Kraglin. Even if they don't he'll live 'til they dock, Yondu expects. 

Third cycle on ship starts, and Quill's already on the couch in Yondu's quarters, even if he ain't sleeping. There's something playing on the holoscreen, some kind of sport Yondu don't recognize. 

“Figured you'd want to spend the night over there.” It occurs to Yondu every now and then that the boy probably should spend time around other kids, but fuck if Yondu knows where to find any. Sometimes, when they're on-planet, Quill can wander off to a park or something, but Yondu ain't all that alright with Quill out of his sight too long. Takes just one nosy person asking too many question, one Nova Corps officer looking a bit too close. 

Takes just one Kree slaving party coming through. 

Boy shrugs, fiddling with one of Yondu's little baubles. Yondu gets his pipe out of a drawer, fills it and takes a hit. Someone must score a goal or something on the holoscreen, the crowd screaming loud enough Quill turns the volume down. 

“What's wrong with you, boy?” Quill ain't ever this quiet for this long. Last time Yondu ever had this much silence from the boy was the week it took for them to find him an implant. Kid ain't shut up since. 

Quill keeps playing with the thing, shrugs again. 

“I asked you a question, boy,” Yondu warns. He don't like this, and he needs to know what's going through Quill's head. Could be those kids on that ship filled him up with stories about their planet, about living on the ground, shit Quill can't have. 

Quill's only alive because they keep moving. 

“Boy, I done asked you a question, and I ain't asking you again.” Yondu ain't in the mood to have to get stupid fantasies out of the boy's head tonight. Quill lives on ship, where Yondu can keep an eye on him, and that's just how it is. “What'd those kids tell you, huh?” 

“They...” Quill scrunches up. “They told me...he was...” Boy won't look at Yondu. “He was...” 

He won't look at Yondu, and Yondu knows just what stories the boy heard today. 

He puts his pipe down, gets up and crouches in front of Quill. He ain't about to ask Quill to say it, tell Yondu just what he heard, 'cause Yondu knows. Quill shouldn't know, but he does now. “You listen here, boy. Lo Lo is getting what's coming to him, one way or the other. Ravagers, now, we don't _ever_ ,” he shakes Quill by the shoulders, “ever do what he did, not to no one.” 

Boy don't say nothing, but he looks at Yondu again now. 

Yondu sits down beside him, looks at the holoscreen. 

“Fuck is this shit?”

“I don't know,” Quill mumbles, but he gets a bit closer, sitting cross-legged beside Yondu. 

“Find some of those things you like, those cartoons,” Yondu says, and Quill starts searching through the Holonet. “Some of those ones with folks getting hit.”

Boy finds them some, something with some animals and some big mallets. He watches until Quill falls asleep,

They get to the port, drop off Lo Lo, hand the kids over. Quill stays close to Yondu the whole time, watching. Watches the kids get hauled off by the Nova Corps, and they ain't trying to hurt the kids, but they ain't being too nice, separating them and taking them away. 

One officer comes close, starts reaching for Quill, and Quill does something he ain't done in a long while, not since they first picked him up. He clings to Yondu's coat, close enough Yondu can feel him breathing. Been a long time since Yondu could even let him do it with the crew watching, but it's just Tullk and Kraglin. They won't say nothing. 

“Hey, it's going to be okay,” the officer coos, like Quill is a pet or something. “Come on, we'll find your family -”

“I'm a Ravager!” Boy snaps, all teeth, like he ain't still hiding.

Does something it shouldn't, like it always does, when it comes to Quill, and the way he's still such a dumbass kid he thinks Yondu is just going to protect him. 

“Boy's mine,” he says. Ain't much of a lie. “His mama's gone. Lives on the ship.” 

“Apologies,” the officer says, though Yondu don't much care for their tone. “My mistake.”

They have to stay in port for a week if they want the bounty, turns out, because the authorities want statements, and all sorts of shit Yondu don't have the patience for. Don't even seem necessary. Lo Lo was mostly in one piece when they handed him over. Still had all his fingers, even. Yondu's almost proud of his crew for the restraint. 

The port city's got brothels and bars though, and the crew just got paid. They'll all be broke by the end of the damn week, but they'll keep themselves occupied. 

“Guara...guaran _teed_ pre...” Quill squints at the sign, then looks up at Kraglin, the little shit. Ain't like Kraglin's gonna be much help, but that's not the point. 

Yondu smacks the kid over the back of the head. “Boy, if I wanted Kraglin to read it, I'd ask him, now wouldn't I?”

“Shit, Pete, you can probably read better than me anyway,” Kraglin points out. 

“But you're _old_ ,” Quill says. 

“I ain't that old, you little -!”

“Aw,” Tullk coos, loading up another barrel of supplies onto the hover-cart. “Isn't brotherly bonding sweet?” He takes a swig from his flask, then passes it to Yondu. “Almost done here, Captain. Just need to pick up a few parts for the ship, and we'll be good to go.” He peers over at Quill and Kraglin. “Oi! Kraglin! C'mon, lets find that dealer with the filters.” 

Kraglin shoulders his gun and turns his back on Quill, boy making a nasty face at him when he does. Yondu grabs him by the head, ruffles his hair, grinning. Boy don't ever take no disrespect lying down. Yondu can appreciate that. It's a good trait. 

“Can I go?” Quill asks. 

“That end of the marketplace might still be a little much for you, Pete,” Tullk says. He says it like a joke, but the Kree bounty hunters tend to hang around those ends. “Maybe when you're about this big,” he reasons, raising a hand to the middle of his chest. “And not so bite-sized, no more.” Kraglin makes like he's going to bite the kid, and gets punched for it.

“You suck,” boy spits, scowling and flinching when Kraglin hits him back. 

“That's enough of that,” Yondu drawls, grabbing the boy and yanking him back before he launches himself at Kraglin. Ain't no need for fighting in the middle of the damn street. “C'mon boy, let's go see if anyone here's got anything worth stealing.” 

Boy takes off ahead of him, but Yondu ain't too worried. He's still in sight, and 'sides, Yondu made sure he put on his jacket 'fore they left the ship. Might be plenty of shady fucking assholes on this planet, but ain't none of 'em dumb enough to try and snatch a boy wearing a Ravager coat.


End file.
